Cybersecurity risks aren’t simply risks to your information technology assets, they are an urgent and pressing risk to your entire business. Treating cybersecurity as the sole concern of the IT department can put your whole business in peril. An innocuous-looking data breach may bring heavy financial penalties, loss of customer trust, and can even force your company to shut down. Cybersecurity can no longer function as an addendum or an afterthought for companies that take their sustainability, reputation, and growth seriously.
Changing Cyber Threat Landscape
Changes in technology have been revolutionizing business for a long time. Recently, this trend has expedited due to an exponential increase in work-from-home as well as the adoption of technologies such as the cloud. And, as businesses leverage emerging technological trends, it opens up more opportunities for cyber-attacks.
Here are some examples of how cyber-criminals have been using changes in your technology adoption to launch attacks:
The rise in work-from-home due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an alarming increase in the rate of cyber-attacks.
The widespread adoption of IoT brings in new vulnerabilities. In 2019, cyber-attacks on IoT devices grew by 300%.
Another growing threat comes from IoT botnets capable of launching stealthy DDoS attacks and spreading malware.
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) has revolutionized many aspects of the business. But on the flip side, the use of AI and ML have begun to pose major challenges to cybersecurity.
The ever-changing technology landscape, therefore, requires your cybersecurity systems to be dynamic and proactive because it is only a matter of time before a static defense is compromised.
The New Risk Lens
The changing technology and threat landscapes require businesses to re-evaluate their definition of ‘business risk’. The lack of a clearly defined risk perspective can lead to an irrational and wasteful cybersecurity posture. Without frequent and sound inputs from a cybersecurity expert, the business leadership is unlikely to understand the magnitude of the risks stemming from the lack of a cybersecurity function. It is very likely that the actual vulnerabilities are ignored and resources diverted elsewhere, which may in turn magnify the dangers.
For example, the protection of data, especially PII (Personally identifiable information) has become a grave real-world concern amplified by the media coverage of data breaches that affect the public’s trust in our brands. In addition, the pressure from regulatory agencies and compliance requirements are steadily pushing data protection to the forefront. The cyber-threat to the sustainability of a business is so great that now many businesses have started setting aside a budget to fulfill ransom demands in case of ransomware attacks. Until a few years ago such threats would have been relegated to low priority.
The new cyber risks to your business emerge not just from the adoption of new technologies but also from changes in your work environment, work-from-home being a prime example. Envisaging such risks conveniently ahead of time is nearly impossible. So the most feasible way ahead is to develop the capability of mounting new defenses quickly and efficiently. This kind of operational agility cannot be expected from a team that is required to perform a variety of roles ranging from desktop support, procurement, network maintenance, cybersecurity, etc.
Your concern about the cybersecurity function, therefore, shouldn’t be “if you need one”, rather it should be “how soon can you create one”.
New Role For Cybersecurity
Cyberattacks on your company are inevitable and attacks will only proliferate with time. These attacks pose significant financial risks that are difficult for business leaders, who are unacquainted with cybersecurity, to understand. Technology is utilized across the various business functions and the risks associated with technology adoption are therefore ingrained in each of the vertical, silo, department, or function, whatever you may call them.
Dealing with such entrenched risks and vulnerabilities requires your information technology, cybersecurity, business risk, and business managers to work together and champion the cause of cybersecurity to protect and enhance your company's value. This requires cybersecurity governance, depending on the size of your organization, at the same functional level as compliance, operations, or finance.
Defining cybersecurity as a critical business function ensures that security receives the necessary strategic oversight required to protect your company’s most valuable assets and mitigate the potential business damage, be it bottom line, reputation, or regulatory intervention. With the necessary resources and proper security oversight, the cybersecurity function will be better able to conduct cybersecurity risk assessments- review risks across the different functions, locate and mitigate the most pressing ones as well as to prioritize detection, protection, and response.
Cybersecurity Culture
It is often said that the weakest link in your cybersecurity is the employee and there is evidence to back that claim. Human error leads to around 22% of data breaches according to Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report. A robust cybersecurity defense, therefore, requires active participation from everyone in the company. Investing in a security-focused culture helps you turn your weakest link into your strongest asset.
However, creating a cybersecurity conscious culture is not a small task. It requires consistent and concerted efforts that can only be achieved by a dedicated cybersecurity team or department. Establishing a cybersecurity function also helps you instill the importance of cybersecurity among your employees and create a cybersecurity conscious culture, where every employee accepts an active role in keeping the company safe.
Cybersecurity As A Critical Business Function
As businesses make bigger leaps towards digital transformation using cloud computing, AI, ML, and other technologies, cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly critical business function. Even if it hasn’t been recognized as a business function, cybersecurity is already an integral business process. Therefore, making cybersecurity an operational necessity will position your business strategically and enable you to mount effective cybersecurity against new and emerging cyber-threats. In addition, it will also help not just in ensuring the smooth delivery of your products or services to your customers but also to enhance trust in your brand.
Is your cybersecurity always playing catch-up with new and emerging cyber-threats? Do you wish to improve your security posture and build your security reputation? Team up with Jones IT for all your IT Security needs, improve your cybersecurity posture, and stay on top of emerging threats. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you with your cybersecurity and business continuity.
If you liked the blog, please share it with your friends
